Spain cancels support for Cape Verde state budget

Spain will no longer provide support to the Cape Verde State Budget although it intends to resume aid to the archipelago in a new format as of 2015, the new Spanish ambassador to Cape Verde, Luis Calvo said in Praia.
At the end of an audience with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, the ambassador said the new format, unlike the previous one that was discontinued this year, will provide aid through companies and European institutions.
“This new format of cooperation is more effective, as in Spain there are companies interested in investing in Cape Verde and it could be very good for both parties.”
Last October, the African Development Bank (AfDB) granted a loan of 15 million euros to Cape Verde to finance government and investment promotion programs and used the occasion to recommend an end to soft loans to the archipelago.
In a statement announcing the loan, theADB recommended Cape Verde, a middle-income country, should start to seek out commercial loans to finance development.
Cape Verde became a middle-income country in 2008, following a five-year transitional period for the economy to adapt to market rules. This period ended on 31 December 2013. MDT/Macauhub